The Soul of the Mystic Mechanist
by Renmin
Summary: While wandering around underground Konoha Naruto meets a man capable of many things. Naruto becomes his student and things are changed forever. Sort of an AU story. However is what he's learning can be considered both good or bad to most everyone. Kind of a gray Naruto with a past that has left him a complete outcast to society. His perception of the world changed years ago.


I don't own Naruto or the creation of Naruto, I don't own squat except my computer. Canon is 13 stories on the ground in the street. I'm merely warping and twisting the concepts and over all plot line. In other words I'm making up something else for a change like an AU, and very AU now that I think about it, it's going to be a new sort of universe story... so bear with me a bit. There are a few OC's that are strange and helpful. Things will need correcting at times so a BETA with an open mind is welcome to help out. It's mature due to stuff I have... probably due my odd and mysterious mind of untold strangeness... and whatever mischief and mayhem I can cause to the Naruto World! In this story Naruto is a bit off, This is, of course an AU type of world, where there is more to the Elemental Nations in the world. As such I will make up a lot of things regarding the world and some history. It says unleash your imagination... I'm going to take that to the extreme and unleash my own reality!

Note: Unless I add anything from anywhere else from other things, this disclaimer will stay in effect throughout the story unless otherwise told so.

The Soul of the Mystic Mechanist.

It was very early morning in Konoha the village hidden in the leaves and Uzimaki Naruto was wandering around the underground sewers and tunnels. Why you might ask? It was something for the nearly ten year old, something to do with his large amount of free time. The academy was off until the next term. Three years ago Naruto was a great big ball of sunshine, full of optimism and change. A smile or grin that never faulted, a prankster looking for a place to belong, and seemed to burst at the seams with happiness. That wasn't the case anymore...

The young blonde was a little more reserved emotionally than he had been. He had his own set of principles and beliefs that he lived by. Some were bent or tweaked every so often. The kid seemed a bit more modest than he was in the past, and had cooled off a bit personality wise. When Naruto wasn't training himself into the ground he spent most of his time alone thinking. A lot of his thinking lead to some pretty strange and unusual ideas. Some would label it ''dangerous thinking'' with the way things were run in a militarized society. The one the shinobi world seemed to revolve around.

The only friend he had in the orphanage was a year older then him. She was adopted by her second cousin from Tetsu no Kuni, or Iron country three years ago. He was a blacksmith that set up shop in Konoha after selling his store in the capital of the country. The man was able to make weapons cheaply because of all his friends and contacts that owned free mining operations. Tenten's cousin was one of those people that seemed to know everyone.

The young blonde tended to see himself as an outsider of the world, a person that would intervene at an opportune chance, and he was an idealist. He looked at the world around him, asking the why's and how's of it. The world was a rather interesting place to Naruto, what sparked his curiosity was taking things apart that were broken and fixing them. But he didn't stop there, the pranks spoke for themselves. He still pulled the occasional prank although they were much less frequent. However they had become more complex, elaborate, inventive, thought out, and left no way to trace it back to him at all. Just ask the village about the chocolate sprinkles and powdered sugar incident...

His attire had changed to a dark orange overcoat with a matching cloak and hood, his feet were covered closed toed shoes to protect his feet. Naruto always had his hood over his bright blonde hair. Believe it or not the boy had figured out how to make his own clothing. First it started with repairs, then went to alterations, additions, and so on until he made his own clothes. The boy did this for good reason, to save a lot of money.

Naruto had a little help from his friend that gave him the power to live in the time he called ''Hell on Earth'' The blonde didn't talk about it to anyone but, it was something very hard to forget. The Kyuubi wasn't as bad as everyone thought, but was not a great good either. It essence she was a chaotic neutral, and yes, she. An odd fact with the Biju was that their tails determined what they were for the most part, an odd number meant female the even number male, with the exception of Nibi and Sanbi who were reversed, and no one had a clue what the Gobi was.

Since his apartment he ''lived at'' was vandalized every so often and drunks would smash his stuff at least twice a month. Naruto would repair everything and make things look like someone lived there. Of the things he had ''acquired,'' They were kept at a places with the really good loot. A number of areas he's explored in the village and places to make as supply caches. One was near a place called the forest of death, it had been an old communications bunker from the second or third shinobi war. It seems it was forgotten over that time, however the building was in really good shape to his surprise.

He was smarter and, maybe a bit more mature because of the entity inside him. Due to the teachings of the fox and the many conversations they had over the years. The host and tenant mostly talked when something came along that he didn't understand, the fox would explain things for him. Or If the great fox was bored, which was a lot of the time. All he knew was Kyuubi wasn't really that evil. She may of had a vengeance streak a mile wide, being evil... not so much. The Biju did call him kit sometimes for some odd reason, he guessed it was a fox thing. After all the great beast was a demonic fox, but still a fox, and he was still young.

The host and tenant had come to many ''mutually beneficial agreements'' after several gifts, offers, and counteroffers. They had worked out the best agreement as far as Naruto was willing to go. His sight was good enough that in the pitch black darkness of the underground was like an overcast day outside. His hearing and sense of smell was on par with some of the middle to higher Inuzuka trackers of that clan. The reasoning behind this was simple, if Naruto died so would she would also die. Nothing scares an immortal being than ceasing to exist.

The neutral faced youth felt a nudge in the back of his mind. 'Yes Kyuubi?' The fox was the reason he was able to live from the event several years ago. _**'I feel something... odd nearby. Keep going.' **_Stepping over a group of stone bricks the boy felt one under his foot press into the floor. A hand that was holding an old metal bar on the wall fell like a switch. The sound of stone grinding on stone was heard as he looked to his right to see the wall slowly move aside. "Well if this doesn't make my day today. I could always use more hideout's around Konoha."

The boy's cerulean blue eyes shined a little with a bit of mischievous glee as he watched the door opened at a seemly agonizingly slow pace. But as soon as the door was wide enough for him to squeeze through the gap he jumped at the chance. The other side was interesting... it was a series of perfect circles. The walls, floor, and ceiling let off a yellow light, just enough to see clearly to a normal person. Taking a good look around, the hooded blonde noticed on the walls were filled from floor to ceiling as far as he could see were books. The room was about 100 feet long and 70 feet wide with high stone columns surrounded by bookshelves, from floor to high ceiling. The boy went to explore even more books on the shelves made of ebony wood. The blonde didn't know how long this place had been here. The Kyuubi could sense and see them as part of an agreement they had and she was interested in what was going on.

The room was cool and dry, the perfect place to store things. Picking up a book he noticed something, they were absolute gibberish... it looked like a language, but nothing he had seen before. Kyuubi spoke to him as the image of text came out. _**'Kit, I've not seen that language before and I have seen many in my numerous travels many years ago, it must be coded or in very old tongue ... it looks like this is a dead end this time.' **_Naruto was undeterred by it and noticed a shelf at the end of the room near the wall that looked a bit off. It was very minor, just a bit from the rest of them. Something just seemed to give off an odd glimmer and walked towards it. Only with his sharp eyes did he manage to catch it. As he reached the shelf as he reached for the books and the first one he grabbed was an orange book, the same as his favorite color. Pulling on it the shelf and the bookcase dropped into the stone floor 'Well I guess this is just the beginning, right Kyuubi?' The fox grumbled about making judgments too fast.

The color of the walls changed on the other side to a glowing lime green color. Walking down what looked like a great hall, Naruto walked at least fifteen minutes until he reached another large room. It was a large circle like chamber 60 feet across and 20 feet high in a dome. In the chamber was a study and near an podium alter was a large black tomb. Along with a it was small box that seemed to have a rolling fog coming off of it.

He could hear a deep gravely voice, and the froze._ "Do you wish to learn from what the library contains inside of it? Do you want to learn about things of what this world has never seen before? Do you wish to create another world's past and create a new future for this one? Do you want to be a revolutionary? Can you create your own destiny? Do you even want to? The world is full of many wonders that can be created just by the power of knowledge. Can you create a better future? Or do you just want power? The power of technology is strong, wield it wisely." _the voice spoke up in a very deep gravely voice. Naruto's curiosity got the best of him and in one quick answer he changed his future and the world forever. "I'll do it, I've got nothing to lose." Was the youth's impulsive reply. _"Very well then open the book and things will be revealed to you." _

The opening the large leather back tomb he dusted off the cover. There were symbols on the cover such as a wrench and screwdriver overlapping diagonally. That image was on the top right. On the left was a pair of wire cutter's overlapped a hammer in the same fashion. Opening it the old book the paper sliced his hand as a few drops hit the pages. Eliciting a small curse from the blond, the letters moved around the paper rearranging the text. _Well you've done it, congratulations! You are now in possession of technological knowledge that people would kill to get their hands on._ 'Great... more reasons for people to try and kill me, hooray.' he thought with dripping sarcasm.

The book continued. _If you really want to do this the right way and not the half-assed way, see that box? It's part of the gift, along with yours truly. Open it. _The box was to the right with the strange rolling fog coming of of it. Picking up the back box he opened it slowly inside was a frosty multi-colored syringe. It seemed to have different layers in it. The first was a slightly glowing blue hue, a layer of amber, and the last a glowing lime green color. _**'That thing feels like it has chakra coming of it, but I'm not sure. It feels very similar to it.' **_Naruto felt it faintly too coming from the green liquid. "Oh what the hell? No pain no gain." Sure he hated needles with a passion, but why not? You only live once.

Injecting whatever was in the syringe into his arm he felt, odd but in a good way... then came the mind numbing pain.What Naruto saw was the rise and fall of technology, along with what it could do. Both good and bad. He had seen civilizations come and go, empires rise, fall, and decay. The images went by so fast it was hard to understand it all. Both he and the fox saw everything, some things seemed great, the rest was wrong. Genocide, massacres, ethnic cleansing, holy wars, proxy wars, puppet governments, satellite states, corruption beyond all comprehension. After about an hour of this Naruto finally passed out from mental overload.

_Drip* Drip* Drip*... _Was the sound he heard, the blonde knew this place... it had been a while, at least six months. His head was pounding from all the new found information he has grasped with whatever the hell happened. _**"Kit come here, we need to talk. Something tells me this only the beginning." **_Using a trick he learned several years ago all he had to think were he wanted to go, and he would be there. In a flash the young blonde was in front of the cage.

The fox stood in all her gigantic glory, well, as glorious as a prisoner could be... the demon preferred this form over others, unless it was just a smaller fox form. The Biju lied with paws overlapped with her head down, there was an odd stare at him before she spoke. _**"I don't know everything you saw... I saw bits and pieces before you blacked out. I have seen weapons that human's have made that could destroy the world. A bomb of epic proportions, one that could destroy nations. The shear power of it all. Kit this is the great opportunity of unknown exploitable knowledge... think of all the possibility's."**_ The fox was giddy at the thought of it all.

To Naruto everything felt weird about what he saw. It was like he was there when it happened and it creeped him out. The Biju's eyes seemed to shift to his own. The Kyuubi was a full blow pyromaniac. She loved fire, explosions, erupting volcanoes, anything that included fire and destruction. That particular trait passed on the the young blonde.

"_**Did you see all the flying machines? The cities taller then I, The advanced ways mankind waged warfare, achievements here that nobody could ever think possible... the sheer destructive power available to humans in that place was awe inspiring. Just think about it." **_The Biju very rarely had anything nice to say about humans. An awe inspiring series of weaponry had gotten respect from the beast... such a thing was unheard of.

"_**Kit you may not understand this completely but, you were just given a gift of tremendous power. Why? I don't know. You need to wake up and read in the library. We have much to learn about this fascinating technology, now go." **_Naruto opened his eyes and blinked as his vision when back to normal from an odd blur. He snapped to attention when he smelled... tobacco smoke?

Over the course of however long Naruto had been out for someone came. The figure was extremely tall, large and burly. Opening the pocket of a thick olive drab greatcoat the man was smoking a large cigar. The man looked rugged and looked like a mountain man with a thick beard put into three braids. The man was covered in an olive drab green greatcoat, in the WW2 officers styled version. Upon his head was a pair of black framed glasses, and long brown braided hair streaked. Around his forehead was a black bandana with a white Spanish crown. To add to the strangeness of the individual was very tall. Naruto's guess was nearly seven feet tall when the giant stood near the study only to sit on the ground. The bearded figure had steely gray eyes, Naruto noticed the beard and thick mustache looked as if it was an unkempt mountain man. On his hands were a pair of tan light leather gloves. The man wore large baggy forest olive drab cargo pants and shirt. Under the open coat looked like a black shinobi flak vest only thicker, larger, and had much more utility space.

"So, you're finally awake, eh sleeping beauty? It's only been six or seven hours since you dropped like a rock. Call me Misha, I'm the bookkeeper." The large man gave a gloved hand to the blonde to get him on his feet. As the blonde got up his guard was on high alert. "Relax kid. I'm the guy who made the book. Now that I'm here, for some parts you'll be going on this little journey solo. I'll check on you and what you do. I tend to cause issues if I stick in one place for too long... Now what's your name kid?" The man smoked his cigar as he waited.

"Uzimaki Naruto. Now, what happened?" The giant of a man sighed. "Let's go through this from the beginning. I'm Kirov, Misha Kirov. You my little blonde friend have the knack, just like me." The man's bushy eyebrows were suddenly rose in surprise at Naruto's hands. The looked at his hands were forming symbols in black ink. "What the hell!"

"Oh crap, this hasn't happened before. Your getting your marks, they will tell you which what your strongest fields are. I've never seen this happen so fast before. It usually takes days!" Misha explained quickly. "What does that mean!" Naruto felt the marks start burn and itch. "Don't! Don't scratch them or it will screw them up. Now just calm down and wait, some marks take longer to fully form. Would it help if I show you one of mine?"

The blonde got his head cooled off and looked in the giant's direction. The mark consisted of of six long cylinders with wires with what looked like a cable to a box with a T on it on the bottom of the palm towards the thumb. Next to it in Naruto's perspective looked like a highly advanced musket with a spyglass. The mark towards the top looked like someone copying important documents or changing the contents. On the right side looked like infrastructure and communications had been destroyed or disabled. After the boy studied it he had one question. "What does it mean?"

"This mark is not of science but a series of of collected traits made into a developed skill. It's the mark of the Saboteur, a mark of irregular warfare, infiltration, weapons handling, assassination, false documentation, forgery, explosives, regular or improvised, knocking out bridges, power, communications, while generally causing chaos and disorder." Naruto was impressed with that mark, it sounded almost like a specialty shinobi. "Do you have more marks?" The man sighed once again. Why do you think I wear all this thick clothing. It's for protection and to hide as much of my body as possible. I have marks that started out of parts of my back but they started to blend into one giant collection of scientific field skills." Misha put the glove back on his hand.

"Really?" The orange clad questioned. "Really kid, I've done all that... and then some. The marks don't lie about what is your fields of mastery you'll understand the most." He grinned. "On another more positive note, it looks like a few marks on your hands have settled in. Naruto looked at his hands and saw that both of his palms and the tops of his hands had symbols on them. "Wow..."

The Kyuubi in the meantime knew what was going on and decided to tell the boy. _**'Kit, this man is not normal. He is what we demons and our kind call a ''traveler'' it's obvious he's much stronger than he looks... he's probably hundreds if not thousands of years old. Keep a careful ear on things he says, it could help us.' **_The burly man watched as the boy's eyes zoned out for a few seconds. Taking a gloved hand he pulled it towards him.

On the top of your left hand is-" Naruto interrupted "It's the symbol for Bio-hazard. I saw it in the hospital all the time but I don't know what it really means." The man gave a toothy grin that showed longer canine teeth, much like his own. "Bio-hazard warfare stands for for hazardous materials to people and animals. This can be in the form medical waste or samples of a micro-organisms, viruses, and deadly toxins. They can affect people from poisoning, or making a virus to target people. Or just plain deadly stuff you don't want to deal with."

Naruto was awestruck that all of that was into one symbol. "That sounds powerful." The man's cigar lightly burned as he nodded. Naruto's left palm was something just as deadly. The mark was a building with a cord attached to it with a small box with a T on top. The similar six cylinder tubes and a clock was attached on the top of the palm in the middle towards the top of the hand was a fiery explosion.

"That is the mark of the Demolisher, a mark of bombs, explosives, and destruction. From the cord coming from the building I'd say you would be able to make out a buildings weak points in order for it to collapse. It's another powerful mark." Naruto had a look of excitement on his face, he had made homemade bombs before but this was a whole different matter.

Quickly showing his right palm the man paused. The mark was of a nearly empty chemistry beaker. "That's the chemist's mark. As you can see it's almost empty, that's because this mark needs time to develop the more you learn about chemistry. The more you know the more the beaker fills up. That mark will help you with the other marks you have, especially bombs. Explosives go hand in hand with chemistry, the more you know the bigger the explosion." Naruto nodded as it made sense to him.

The last mark on his hand was a symbol he had never seen before. Misha tensed as he saw the outcome. On his hand was a black skull with crossbones underneath within a yellow circle. "That is the symbol of chemical warfare. A mark of war it includes Blood Agents, Choking Agents, Blister Agents such as mustard gas, Vomiting Agents, Psycho Agents that cause hallucinations, Nerve Agents like sarin gas, Bacterial Biological Agents such as anthrax, Rickettsial Biological Agents like Q-fever, Viral Biological Agents such as smallpox, Biological Toxins such as Saxitoxin, a Neurotoxin, really deadly shit."

"The serum I gave you was in a liquid. It is also extremely toxic to human's and animals that way. If you didn't have the fox you would be dead, unfortunately it was the only way to give you the gift. The energy it emits is so similar chakra and I think you can harness it." Naruto thought of that this power as a challenge. But how could he use it unless it was... already in his blood.

The fox and Naruto were confused until it dawned on him the man knew about the fox. What else he would know would be a mystery. "How do you know about the Kyuubi?" The man sighed as he put out a stub as he lit up another cigar. "Kid... I know things. I know way to much, so much I'm considered a threat. In Iwa I'm in their bingo book under ''A-Ranked Unknown Foreign National.'' with instructions to treat with extreme cation and not to engage alone. Especially with areas full of cover.

"Any questions?" Naruto shook his head. "Good , now let me get a look at your back." doing as he was told took of his shirt and cloak exposing his scarred back. The mark on his left shoulder blade was a pistol crossing a rifle. Underneath the mark were, a cannon, a howitzer, and a mortar. On the right shoulder blade was another mark. It looked like a multi-tool with a wrench, a screwdriver, a pair of wire-cutters, a pair of pliers, and a socket wrench. In the middle was a mark of several archaic runes.

"On your left shoulder is the mark of gunpowder warfare. Cannons, howitzers, mortars, pistols, rifles, anything that has to do with gunpowder weapons. You have the mark of a master gunner. On the right is the mechanist's handy tool. You would be very good with machines and building them. If you can imagine it you can build it. In the middle is the marks of runes, you know about seals right?" The young boy Nodded his head. "Think of runes as a simpler, powerful, simpler forms of sealing." Naruto knew this man could teach him a lot. Putting his upper clothing back on he turned around.

"Now I have instructions for you to follow. Go to the library and pick out books related to your marks." pulling out a book from his coat he handed to the boy. The man got up and sat in the chair of the study. Puffing his cigar he saw the blonde just standing there. "Well get going... Pick out anything that comes to mind that you would like to do. I would start looking for books in the for ''Beginners' section of the library. It's on the far right wall. You can't miss the bright yellow books. I would recommend The Anarchist's Guide on homemade, bombs, explosives, with all sort's of neat stuff and gadgets."

Naruto was thrilled by the thought of that book on bomb's... like many red blooded males and others like him it sounded like it was a pyro's dream book. Oh ya, that was a gimme for someone who liked fire a lot. He was sure Kyuubi had a little to do with his fascination with things that are on fire or go boom... 20% sure. Although she did describe some of her past's exploits... 40% sure. Then there was those stories about the biggest stormy hell of raining gigantic fireballs she had made... make that 60% sure. And then there was- never mind, he got it from the fox.

"Well kid go look for something to pick up and expand your mind! You aren't going to learn by doing nothing. I'll be here if you need me, I would recommend picking books related to the marks you have they will be the easiest to start with and soak up the knowledge. I'll help you if you can't wrap your head around something or you need a person to bounce ideas off of. If you want my help with past techs you don't understand I can help. You could be the savior or the antichrist with the power available to you." The bearded man stopped for a moment. "I really hope you are a savior to this war-torn land." he mumbled quietly

"Now go look for something to catch your eye with, what you want to learn. Pick up some books and see what you can learn. It's still early in the day Naruto, you have nothing better to do and you seem like a bright kid. It that vast library there is something waiting for you, have fun."

'Well Kyuubi, it looks like we many find something to do after all. Let's head to the beginners section we should find some stuff that may be useful like... explosives.' The fox let out a content sigh. _**'I love the smell of burning rubble in the morning. Now hop to it! We don't have all day dawdling, more fire and explosions are needed, first and foremost!' **_He could that the fox was excited about anything to blow up or set on fire. 'Easy Kyu, I'm excited as you are about this.'

Walking down the great hall Naruto found the once oddly glowing circles converted to light up above the library the only thing was a green path that he supposed to lead the way. Following the path for a good fifteen minutes until he came to the yellow book section. He pulled out such titles as: Gunpowder Weapons for Newbies: How to blow up the enemy, while keeping you safe! Chemistry for Beginners: Understanding what chemicals work and why they work. The Beginners Guide To: Mortars, Howitzers, And Cannon Engineering: Think it, build it, and destroy a chunk of the world! Demolition for Beginners: How to make it all explode or implode, the right way. And finally: Machines, Machinery, and Mechanics For Beginners: How to build your own creations for whatever your imagination can unleash! That book was five times thicker than the rest of them, except the book on cannon engineering it was almost the same size.

Stacking the books into a pile he decided to study in the dome chamber, the books could be taken an read. He had to protect this very big secret from anyone who would do him wrong. He was gifted when the pain came he saw visions about how many things worked and he began to think. Picking up a book on a whim it was titled: The big book of government types: politics, the loopholes in them, and the way to get what you want. If he could find a Konoha law book he could weasel his way out of a lot situations. He also found another book he would enjoy. The Cookbook of an Anarchist: How to build homemade weapons and explosives from A to Z.

While he was walking from the library he noticed a section of wall was pushed inwards. Pushing the rest of the door in his saw something amazing. The room was rectangular in shape, 115 feet long 80 feet wide and had a 12 foot ceiling. Walking inside he saw a full chemistry set, a forge, a workbench, and many different tools he had never seen. The young blonde swore that he would learn everything he could. Making his way to the domed study he sat down at the desk

Around an hour later.

Naruto was already a third through the chemistry book and he found out something, he now had a photographic memory. Everything the blonde read was seared in his mind. The whiskered boy was pretty sure at this point that he could make about more than a dozen explosives out of stuff in his apartment alone. But this was just the beginning, he still had more to read.

'Kyu what do you think about this book?' The beast was confounded by seemly normal items could cause an explosion if properly prepared. '_**It's a beautiful thing kit, soon I can imagine the explosions you can create. While I can look through your eyes I can not see and understand the language, but once you read it I can find out what happened from your memory's. Your soaking up this stuff like a dry sponge to water. Although a lot of this seems very foreign to me..."**_

Deciding to to mark his place in the book he started reading about gunpowder based weapons. After a half hour of reading he decided he was going to make something small first. The workshop he had seen had a foundry and forge that was there. Where he could make weapons that he would need one day, there was one thing about gunpowder weapons that was a big negative, they were very loud. An overly loud ninja could be killed in a silent mission. Although if he could figure it out he would make it sound very quite it would be a great equalizer on the battlefield.

The weapon he decided to build first were called hand grenades. They came in a variety of many types. They were packed with explosives and bits of steel shrapnel that would blow up. They would send high amounts of flying metal from the blast zone. When the grenade was detonated the explosion would maim or kill anyone in the immediate area, the flying shrapnel would wound anyone in range of the blast zone. The basics were you lit the fuse or pull a detonator pin and however long the fuse is, it blows up. Then your supposed to throw it before the thing goes off.

He and Kyu talked long ago about becoming a ninja one day, and he would have to kill at some point. It was killed or be killed world of shinobi and Naruto was one that wasn't going to go down without a fight if he could help it. While the blonde was young his mental age was that of a teenager. The fox had taught him very well in terms of an education and observing the world around him.

The general population hated him just enough where he would be price gouged by most merchants and shopkeepers, sometimes triple the price. Many people spread nasty rumors about him, most seemed to talk behind his back. He was barred from most restaurants except for one certain ramen stand with two very special people that he considered pretty much family. Also most of the restaurants owned by the clan of ''pleasantly plump'' people seemed to treat him fairly. Ayame-nee was like a big sister to him and she thought of him as family. Teuchi was kind of like of a good friend and almost like an uncle to him. The current Hokage was like his grandfather to him so much as to call him Jiji or Ji-san.

The young blonde spent most of the day down there reading on different subjects he could understand. Naruto had asked the Kyuubi questions about what he was reading but she couldn't understand it like her host. Even she had learned things she had never thought of before. Using two cleaning agents mixed together to make a powerful gas that severely damaged someones lungs over a short time? The sheer thought of it made her wonder even more about human creativity and invention.

The blonde was excited as can be, making unknown weapons would give him a edge that could turn the tides of a battle. He knew what he was going to sign up to be, a solider... a tool of the military, but it was his only choice in order to survive. Not to mention the perks of the job with a life of danger and excitement. Many laws would make civilians unable to touch him without getting into a lot of trouble. For the most part the shinobi population was ok with him, some didn't like him... others actually gave a damn in doing their job right. Like Neko, Hebi, the guy in the turtle mask... and Uchiha Itachi the man in the weasel mask. The one that went insane and killed off every Uchiha by blood. Rumor has it he beheaded his own father, although he was nice to the blonde for some reason.

On the other side of the domed room was a table full of note books, his hopes were maybe Misha left them for him to make things easier. Walking over to the table he found the notebooks empty and ready to be written on. The books were over two hundred pages from front to back. The organized pile must of have several dozen of them there or more. Now the blonde understood it, this for him to write all his ideas on.

Having thought of the hand grenade he would need to use the forge to make them in order to keep everything secret. 'Note to self get a book on metalworking in the library.' Thinking on his idea's he didn't want them to be stolen and used against him. 'Hey Kyu, Do know anyway to keep what I write down here a secret? Like some kinda code to use on this?'

_**'Kit, your going a little too fast and your a little too paranoid. Just calm down this is all new to you, and for me... even with me most of this is confusing.' **_The fox added the last part silently. Trying to calm down he breathed deeply and went back to sitting down. Sitting back down at the desk he read more about the book about mortars, howitzers, and cannons. They were closely tied in with gunpowder weapons.

The Kyuubi had to give him advice on angles after he read about a mortar. It was a weapon that had a high arc that would easily go over walls making them nearly useless. A howitzer went in a medium arc that had quite the range from some designs. Cannons fired straight out in a line, they didn't have the range of the arced howitzer. However he saw a cannon of grand scale called a Turkish Grand Bombard. The cannon must of weighted 20 tons, with something like that even gigantic walls were no problem. The was problem was the thing was humongous and the shear manpower to move something that big was of epic proportions.

Three hours later.

Naruto had been reading some more and a few ideas came to mind. 1: Come up with an idea to make money. 2: Figure out a way to get a fair trade in town or if he really had too, out of town. 3: Learn as much as he could before the academy started for him to enter next year. 4: Diversify the topics or what he can do with his new found knowledge.

Walking into the room where Misha was he decided to give the man a call. Before he could the man appeared before him with a lit cigar in hand. "Well kid how goes the research?" The blonde sighed as he relayed his issues with the man regarding the status of buying things and hard to obtain items. He lived on a monthly stipend from the old man himself and with inflated prices it was a very small amount of cash.

"Well Naruto my boy let me ask you a question. What are the only available types of alcohol around these parts?" The fox gave him the answers. "Sake and grape wine that's imported, why?" The man gave a wide grin and fiddled with his beard. "Then why don't you make alcohol to sell to the public? In the library there are many types of distilled alcohol you can make. Do you have potatoes around here, juniper berries, or sugarcane?

The blonde thought on that as he remembered a lot of juniper bushes on top of the Hokage monument and other areas around Konoha. Potatoes were considered the ''poor mans food'' and some farmers stopped growing them for that reason, but they were dirt cheap even for him. "Ya I could find a lot of berry's this time of year and potatoes are so cheap it wouldn't hurt me much to buy a few big sacks of them, but why would you need sugarcane?"

The man gave a grin that was almost scary. "Potatoes are used to make Vodka, depending on how strong you want the alcohol you can distill it more times until you have it just right. Juniper berry's are used to make an alcohol called Gin, I've had it before... some of the good strong stuff. Sugar or Sugarcane is used to make Rum. If you made new alcoholic beverages and, grab a cocktail guide to make drinks from the library. If you add variety to the current market you will see a substantial increase in profits. First off you'll need a copper still and I would go read a guide on making this stuff... there's some in the library. By diversifying the market you can change what the consumer wants."

Naruto nodded his head in understanding. If there was a limited choice, there was that limited choice only. By expanding the availability of different items people have more choice in what they buy. "Are there any other things you can tell me about selling booze?" The man chuckled a bit. "First you have to find a buyer that wants what your selling. From what you told me about your life..." His tone turned ice cold. "Your best bet is chance it with somebody. From what you can describe a bar owner or that ramen stand start selling it, you told me they serve sake why not a few mixed drinks? You could supply them with a limited stock and see how it works out. If it works well you would get a commission fee or you could sell directly to them." He sighed

The man looked back at the cerulean eyed boy. "First off you would need a still or make one if you can work with copper well enough. I'd recommend reading on that too... do you have a place where you could get old copper? Pipes, wiring, tubes, plumbing fixtures, plating, anything like that?" Naruto naturally though of one place. "There's a scrapyard full of metal, I'm sure I could pick the place clean of anything copper. But won't it be in really bad condition?" The man just smiled. "All you have to do is melt it down and purify it, and it's good as new. Read up on metalworking or metallurgy, there both in the newbie section by the way..." __

The blonde watched the man fiddle with his beard. "So... how far have you gotten in what books?" The man paced back and forth. "I read over a hundred pages of the chemistry book, a little bit on gunpowder weapons and scratched the surface on mortars, cannons, and howitzers." The man sat behind down thinking. "Ok then. Our first problem is money, no money means no funding for projects, and research. The second problem is for the most part are resources and obtaining them at a fair price. The third problem is your bad reputation with the public. I would recommend the distiller's guide to being a booze baron and a book on brewing. I don't know how to change your rep with the public, and it sounds like it's out of your hands.

It was out of his hands really, Naruto didn't have a real choice in the matter. "What about you? Could you sell it for me?" inhaling his cigar Misha thought on that. "I could sell it for you. They would trust me more anyway because I'm a lot older. I'm not the best businessman but I could fetch you a good price." the sound of small tapping steps seemed to wander in.

On the floor was a large gray bird about a foot and a half tall, long sharp talons tapped on the stone floor. A large black hooked beak and the bird had with bright yellow eyes. The avian creature had a white feathered head with a maroon tail "Hello there, what's going on?" was the birds small slightly high-pitched voice. Naruto looked at the bird in a small amount of wonder. "Is that bird a summon?" it was the bird that answered. "I'm not a summon, just a talking bird, half parrot, half bald eagle." Naruto look at the man for confirmation. With a simple nod he replied. "That's Kiska, she's a bird that is very smart and clever. She's older than you by at least a decade or two. The bird is a mix of a bald eagle and African gray parrot. Just ask her something about this place and she knows." The parrot mix gave an affirmative in her small voice.

"Or you could just ask me." was a male sounding voice. Behind the blonde was a cat around the size of a black panther. The feline was missing his right eye and was completely black in color. "I'm not a summon either. The name's Blackjack or as I go by now One-Eyed-Jack like the playing card, or just Jack. I'm good at staying unseen at night. If you need me for something... I've got nothing better to do." As fast as the feline appeared the cat stalked back into the darkness of the halls. _'That was weird.' _

"Don't worry about Jack, he tends to keep to himself most of the time. I've been living down here for years, mostly sleeping until you came along." This started a new conversation with the man about the animals. He didn't say much except it involved genetic manipulation making them much smarter and able to live a lot longer because of it.

The two talked for several hours about what he was learning from the books and their contents. He warned Naruto several times about the bomb he saw in the last of the visions. His words were never to create such a device, as the consequences would be catastrophic to the world. The young blonde heeded that warning well.

Going back to the library he picked out a book called: The bootleggers guide to safe distilling and safe drinking. He found out about more than vodka and gin. The young lad learned about brandy, whiskey and various other alcoholic spirits. Whiskey was interesting in it's names, some called it fire water. If he was in Hi no Kuni, fire water sounded like the national drink of choice. The mash seemed easy to make too. It was aging the stuff in barrels that took awhile but it would worth a lot more later. Brandy was just burnt wine that was distilled, it got better with age also. Vodka could be sold right after in was made.

This was a band new market to explore and exploit. Picking out another book called: The Barman's handbook. Lot's of the spirits were mixed with juice or other flavored liquids. Beer was divided into category's. Ale, lagers, stouts, porters and other types. It required hops, malt, barley, and yeast. It seemed simple enough to make. Some beer's were made with wheat and sometimes hops wasn't used as much. It was pretty much cooking in the beginning.

Going back to the study he noticed a clock on the wall that wasn't there before. The clock read six o'clock at night and he was getting pretty hungry. "Misha?" he called. There were a few dull thuds of boots meeting stone as he walked from the only way in. "You rang?" Naruto was interested in how the burly man just disappeared and seemed to come back if the blonde needed anything. "I'm going to get some ramen, wanna come with?" The man shrugged. "Why not? I haven't had real ramen in years, only the instant... and that get's old after awhile. I locked down the library so nobody can get in except from another route."

Inhaling his cigar he pressed a brick in the wall next to the study and a fake door opened up out of the wall. Giving the gesture of come hither the blonde followed the giant of a man. After about ten minutes they came to a flight of stairs that went up in a column. Reaching the top step the ceiling shifted into itself revealing a path from a dead end alley. Watching the wall shift shut behind them the man explained as he pointed to pieces of piping on the wall next to it. "Pull the first pipe up twice down once, the second up once and down once, the third up once down once and up twice, and the fourth up once and twice down and the path will open for you. Now I don't have any money on me at the moment although I have a little bit of silver, is that ok?"

"It's not a problem Misha-sensei I'll pay for a few bowls for you. It's the least I can do for you helping me out... and the gift." Smoking his cigar he gave a friendly smile. "You we're born with the gift I'm just bringing it out for you." _'A sensei huh? Never been called that before. This could be interesting.' _Naruto took the lead as he know Konoha like the back of his hands, before they had changed. The two were near the red light district of town_. _

After twenty minutes of walking did he notice his teacher's habits of studying everything around him with piercing gray eyes. The man looked at everything in great detail. "Kid you may want to get a pair of gloves, people won't look at your hands in great detail. It keeps things on the down-low." Naruto looked at him not familiar with the phase. Sensing his confusion the burly man elaborated. "It means keeping things low key. Not a lot of people will ask questions about what they can't see." The blonde nodded his head in understanding.

Naruto noticed the looks they were getting from the local population, mostly regarded to his company's sheer size and foreign looks. "So what is this place called we're going to anyways?" The young blonde smiled broadly in one of his rare true smiles. "Ichiraku's ramen. They have the best ramen I've ever had in my life. It's the best in all the elemental countries in my opinion. Any other place is crappy compared to Ichiraku's." The orange clad boy sounded like free advertizement for the place. "Trust me, this will be the best ramen you could ever have."

Little did the blonde realize two ANBU were watching them, or more precisely Misha. One was in a cat mask was making hand signals to the other. "Confront him?" The one in a Hebi mask shook her head. "Let's keep watching." she signed back. However the burly man did notice and anticipated it. He knew as soon as he stepped outside he knew they would draw attention... or he would specifically. It not everyday you see a very large man nearly seven feet tall walking around.

After a few more minutes they arrived at a small stand, opening the flap Naruto was greeted by the few of his favorite people in the world. A waitress was behind the counter along with and older man. "Ayame-nee, Teuchi-oji-san meet Misha he's my newest sensei." the two seemed surprised at the size of the man.

The chef Teuchi was the first to speak. "Well then a new costumer and my favorite one too. Welcome to Ichiraku's ramen, so what will you have today?" Naruto sat on the stool and knew exactly what he wanted. "I'll have three Naruto deluxe Miso's." the Naruto deluxe was key word for a very large bowl, or his sized. Sitting on the stool himself Misha ordered off the menu. "Give me a large beef ramen with extra meat if you can. Misha's the name by the way." The man said offhandedly.

"Three Deluxe miso's and a large beef with extra meat, no problem." The aging man went and started cooking up their meals. Ayame decided to strike up a conversation with the new guy, she had never seen him around before in town... and he would be pretty hard to miss, or if he would hurt Naruto in anyway. "So are you new in Konoha?" The spectacled man nodded. "Naruto here said this place was the best in town for ramen." The brunette smiled a little bit while maintaining a friendly attitude.

"Well you came to the right place then." Naruto watched the exchange with minor interest as he was more preoccupied with thoughts of food on his mind. Misha took a flask out of his coat and took a long swig of the contents. Ayame and Naruto noticed the smell of the contents and it smelt like alcohol. "What are you drinking?"

"This is vodka, I can drink this stuff like water but it's better if it's mixed with something. Juice is a good choice of a mixer. The stuff I'm drinking is about sixty-five percent pure alcohol or 130 proof. It's pretty strong and it gets the job done." The man took another swig before it went back from whence it came. "Order up!" the waitress of the stand helped her father bring out the food.

Three giant bowls were set in front of Naruto and one for Misha. "Thanks Teuchi-oji-san." The burly man gave his thanks to the chef. They both broke a pair of chopsticks "Itadakimasu!" Was Naruto's loud cry. Misha twirled his chopsticks and took a mouthful as the blonde slurped the noodles at an astonishing pace. "This is really good stuff, complements to the chef!" Ayame and Teuchi smiled at the remark. Taking another swig of vodka he was about a quarter of the way finished when the spiky haired blonde was on his second bowl. The deluxe size was about four large bowls in size. _'Where does that kid put it all? That amount of food cannot fit into that body... or can it?'_

Eating the rest of the food in peace the two finished about ten minutes later. To his surprise Naruto had downed all his ramen. "Thanks for the food!" slamming his cash on the counter the blonde cheered. "Thanks for paying for me Naruto, this place has the best ramen I've had." The blonde gave him a look that said 'I told you so'

Getting an idea the burly man whispered into the boy's ear. _"Should I give them some vodka to try out for sale?" _Naruto gave a grin. _"Go for Teuchi, he makes the decisions." _Nodding back The man pulled a large bottle out of his coat. "This is a bottle of vodka, I can open it and mix you a drink to try if you like. Maybe you could sell a few to other customers..." The aging chef gave the man a critical eye. "What's your idea?" 

"Got any orange juice?" The chef adjusted his hat and got out a glass and some juice. Mixing in two shots into the glass of juice Misha handed the beverage to Teuchi. The man took a sip and another before thinking. "This is pretty good, what this drink called?" Naruto grinned as he remembered what it was called from the book. "It's called a screwdriver Oji-san. Pretty simple right?" The middle aged chef thought about it, sake was the norm around the stand. "I'll give it a try. If it sells well... We may do business sometime." Teuchi gave a hearty chuckle.

Getting up from his stool Naruto flashed one of his foxy grins at Teuchi for giving the man a chance. As the two left Ayame spoke to her father. "Did you see those marks on Naruto-kun's hands?" The chef readjusted his hat and sipped the drink he had. "I saw that, I have a feeling that man is responsible for them. Although if Naruto trusts him then I guess we should too." The brunette gave a concerned look. "Are you sure? If he hurts Naruto-kun..." Her father waved her off. "I he wanted to hurt him I would know already. We already know he's a foreigner so people will try to change his mind." Ayame played with her apron. "What if he learns about... you know." Teuchi frowned slightly. "That kid will know what to do, if the time comes." The brunette was still worried. "Don't worry about it Ayame." With that the discussion was over.

Meanwhile.

Naruto was walking with Misha back to his apartment. "We're being followed you know." The bearded man spoke quietly to Naruto. The blonde nodded his head as he had known since the stand. "They're watching you, I know for a fact because you're with me. They keep an eye on me a lot of the time unless I ditch them to be alone." Gray eyes stared blue cerulean orbs. "I can get them off my tail but I can't do it with you. I'll meet you back at the complex... If you want to come back later, you remember the code?" Naruto nodded. "Then I'll see you later then." the man seemed to phase out of existence and disappear much to the ANBU's shock. _**'Well that was unexpected. I told you he was a traveler, expect odd things from him.'**_

Taking the opportunity to ditch the ANBU behind him Naruto threw down a homemade smoke bomb and took off. After several minutes of running Naruto made it to his apartment, with no one the wiser. Taking a look around his apartment a few things had been smashed again. Sighing to himself he noticed most of the objects were unrepairable. In his head he could hear the Kyuubi growling about stupid humans and their ignorant prejudices against her container.

_'Maybe Misha-sensei will let me stay with him, it seems like a big enough place. I think there may be a lot more to it then I've seen.' _Naruto grabbed a few things from his apartment, things that mattered to him. He took a sealing scroll that old man Hokage had given him and sealed up all of his food, precious belongings and a bedroll. Usually his tenant was more talkative than she had been today. _'Why so quite?'_

The great fox seemed to sigh. _**'Today has been strange for the most part, I never thought I'd see a traveler before today. From what I hear it's extremely rare for them to expose to themselves unless it's very important. Judging by the skills he has and what he teaching you... my only conclusion is that bad things are going to happen in the future. From what I gather it must involve us somehow."**_

Naruto stopped to think about it. _'You may be right, but why me then. He said I have the knack... whatever that is.' _The fox came up with her own reply. **'**_**Remember they very rarely show themselves unless something important is going on. He may know something we don't.' **_As far as Naruto was concerned the man seemed layed back and easy going. Even though he had some bad habits like smoking, drinking, and smoking something he didn't know what it was.

Getting out of his apartment he headed towards the roof to jump his way back. Going slowly he stopped on occasion to make sure he wasn't followed on the way there. After fifteen minutes of jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Dropping down into the alley he pulled the pipes in the correct order. The wall opened up reveling the hidden staircase that lead down to the tunnel.

However he was by another stone wall before the study with a lit touch on the sides. On the wall was a simple handwritten note: _To get in you just have to find the right switch. Fire is what you seek._ The only thing that had fire was- _'The touches are involved somehow' _Heading to the torch he notice he had to reach for it. Gabbing it he pulled down as nothing happened except it slightly moved to the left. Noticing that, the young blonde pulled down to the left. Hearing a loud click the stone wall fell into the floor. _**'Well that was interesting.' **_Naruto kept walking to his destination.

Reaching the stone door to the study it was locked up tight. On the side of the wall was a box with a button on it, it looked like an intercom. Pressing the button The hooded blonde heard a voice. _"Who is it?" _Reconsigning the voice it was the cat, Jack. "It's Naruto. Can I come in?" After a few moments the stone door clicked open. Pulling it open the young blonde stepped in. "Where's Misha-Sensei?" The large feline just gave a simple reply with his one green eye of 'follow me'

Following the large black cat was interesting. The had gone to what Naruto called the Great hall, on the left side was piece of stone the cat stepped on opening another stone wall door. The door lead to a flight of stairs going down. "Follow me." The staircase was illuminated by florescent bulbs that flickered from time to time. Looking around on his way down it went down the stairs went down quite a bit. "Father is down on the third basement floor another flight down." This through Naruto in a loop. "Father?" The cat seemed to sigh. "He created me and Kiska, therefor I consider him as my father and creator so does she."

That gave Naruto something to think about. _**'So he has the power to create life, very interesting.' **_The great fox thought to herself. Following the large feline he came to the bottom floor. He's in room number 4 on the door. Take care of yourself kid." With that Jack the cat faded into the shadows. _**'I find that cat very interesting.' **_The blonde agreed with the fox's statement. Reaching door number number for he knocked on it. "Come on in Naruto, I've been waiting for you." Opening the door the large man was smoking another cigar. "I didn't expect you back so soon." His voice gruff and gravely.

The hooded blonde was a bit quite. "I was wondering if there was a place I could stay here, with you." Misha scratched his beard. "Any particular reason you'd want to stay down here?" Naruto sighed. "My place got broken into again, everything was smashed beyond repair." The spectacled man pinched his nose in frustration. "They brake your stuff too... stupid morons, fucking assholes!" The man was livid. "I saw the scars on your back, did they do that too?" The angry giant saw the boy nod. "Stupid pieces of shit!" He slammed his fist in the wall with a few cracks spreading in the wall.

"You can stay here for as long as you like. Nobody can get down here unless they're allowed to. I got a spare room at the end of the hall. It's not much, but it's where you can crash for however long you need too." Naruto smiled a bit. "Thanks Misha-sensei, for your help." The man waved him off. "No problem Naruto. If you stay here anyways you'll probably learn more here."

The young blonde head towards the last door which read number 9. Opening the wooden door there was a bed, a desk, a nightstand and a rack for hanging clothes. Attached to it was a small bathroom with just a toilet, a shower, and a sink with a mirror. _**'This may turn out in our favor kit, he seems attached to you for some reason. Maybe you should get back to studying it's not late.'**_

_'Maybe your right Kyu-chan, I wonder why he was so pissed off though.' _The Fox thought to herself. _**'He may just care for you being his student.' **_Naruto thought about that. The spiky haired blonde unpacked his stuff in his new room. A clock on the wall said 7:20 pm _'Thanks to you I only need four hours of sleep. I'm going back to the study.'_

After unpacking his personal effects he made his way up to the study and continued to read. He was reading about explosives and chemistry. One this in the chemistry book was a substance called nitroglycerin. It was a very volatile substance that was highly explosive. Cross referencing with the explosives book the chemical was a key ingredient for dynamite. Dynamite was mostly for demolition, mining, and if you throw it at someone while its live it would blow them apart.

Naruto spent most of the night studying various books. He found the library wasn't shut off, but only from where he first came in. Picking up a book on metallurgy or as it was called: Metal, Alloys, Purification, and How to make quality metal. The book was thick, probably three or four hundred pages long. For now he felt like he had enough books for now, he went back into the domed room. As Naruto came out into the study he was surprised to hear a voice. "Are you the kid my brother Misha was talking about?"

What the blonde saw was a young woman around 5''4 in height. Her hair was the same brown that his sensei had, but instead of gray eyes she had purple eyes. The woman had a young heart shaped face. She wore outlandish clothing consisting of a bright rainbow tie-die shirt and blue jeans with royal purple dyed below the knee. "Who are you?" The boy asked. "I'm Tasha, Misha's younger sister. Nice to meet you Naruto." The youth was taken back for a moment. "How do you know me?" Tasha let out a light laugh. "Misha talked about you , most of the day I was hungover for most of it. _'Damn my brother for challenging me to a drinking contest.' _Tasha thought the last part to herself.

Naruto laughed at the hungover part. The woman seemed nice to him with her soft voice. "So whacha doing?" She asked almost innocently. "I'm studying a lot of things and what Misha-sensei said would go with my marks." Tasha seemed intrigued. "You have them already? That was really quick, usually it takes days for them to form." Tasha said while rubbing her chin. "Can I see them?"

Naruto was hesitant at first and soon gave in. Rolling up his sleeves and taking off his shirt the woman studied them carefully. After each mark her grin grew wider. Then there was her light laughter that came. "Kid your going to be a kick to be around with those marks. The only thing my brother can't teach you are runes, I can teach you about those though." The blonde remembered what he heard about runes from Misha.

Naruto when toward the domed room to flip though more information. However Tasha disappeared just like Misha could. Going over the books he had he found more in the gunpowder weapons book, a rocket launcher. A long tube put over the shoulder with an explosive rocket that blew up whatever it hit. It was another jackpot discovery. Studying late into the night he understood these things like never before, and it made him giddy with what mayhem he could cause. Today was a good day...

**AN: Well this is chapter 1 I hope you liked it. In other news updates my be sporadic due to my mother's health. I write in what spare time I have available to me. So if you like it, encouragement is welcome. As I have doubts in my writing skills. I can't write like Third Fang, the guy is very good in my opinion. As you can tell things are probably going to go wonky due to my world of madness. But as they say, Genius and Madness are two sides of the same coin. **


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